Door operator



May 1, 1951 n E. B. SPENCER DOOR OPERATOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 1, 1948 E JNVENTOR.

592a 5. SPENCEE nrraxzwa E. B; SPENCER May 1, 1951 DOOR OPERATOR Filed Nov. 1, 1948 INVENTOR. area B. SPENCER m m fix i 4 4 W flawl- .ina. w 2 8 6 is 4 o t 2 l 2 e f. l 8 O I .b 0 2 9 5 5 2 5 4 E. B. SPENCER May 1, 1951 DOOR OPERATOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov; 1, 1948 E. B. SPENCER DOOR OPERATOR May 1, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Nov. 1, 1948 INVENTOR. EHQL 5. SPBVCEB Patented May 1, 1951 DOOR OPERATOR Earl B. Spencer, La Canada, Calif., assignor to Whiting Corporation, Harvey, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application November 1, 1948, Serial No. 57,699

3 Claims. (Cl. -24) This invention relates to doors, and more particularly relates to doors intended and adapted to be tightly sealed, though not necessarily locked, to prevent the passage of air or sound from one side of a wall to the other, such as the doors of sound stages and other chambers where the eX- clusion of sound, drafts, and temperature changes is important.

It is to be understood that modern sound stages, as used in the motor picture and radio broadcasting industries, require doors of massive proportions providing passage space for vehicles and for stage sets. Space requirements frequently do not permit such doors to be swung on hinges in the ordinary manner, and indeed the Weight and leverage of such doors would require door frames of extraordinarily heavy and expensive construction, were the doors to be hinged thereon. Sliding doors arethe most practical form, 'from considerations of space and wall construction, but they in turn raise problems in connection with sealing them tightly and moving them. It is desirable to equip doors for a sound stage with tight-sealing resilient marginal strips which leave no cracks for the passage of sound. However, lateral sliding movement of a door affords opportunity to seal such a strip only on the edge of the door leading the closing movement, except by compressing strips on the other edges of the door by prolonged wedging movement engendering a large amount of friction and making it difiicult to move the door in either direction.

To overcome the above stated difficulties and to obtain a tight seal with a sliding door, door mountings have been devised in which the door is hung on a hinge member pivotally mounted on an overhead trolley or carrier rolling on an overhead rail, with the hinge member arranged to swing about its pivot on the carrier so as to move its point of support of the door arcuately, the door remaining in a substantially vertical plane as dictated by gravity. With such an overhead suspension, and with the door arranged to swing downwardly and toward the door jamb, and up wardly away from the jamb while all the time hanging vertically, clamping mechanism has also been devised, actuable by the free swinging weight of the door, to move the door positively towards the jamb through a series of planes parallel to the plane of the doorway and so to compress sealing means arranged around the margins of the door and ofthe doorway.

It is further desirable, in doors for sound stages, to provide two doors forming an air look, so that 2 a person passing through the doorway may open one door, enter the lock, and close the first door before opening the second, so as to maintain a barrier against the pass-age of sound. Obviously the controls for such an air lock should be operable from either side of the lock and from within the lock, although to permit the doors to slide along the wall the bulk of the actuating mechanism is preferably on the outer side of each door. Furthermore, such controls should be as soundless as possible, eliminating the rattling of chains and bolts, and should require no openings or passages through either the doorsor the wall to accommodate such linkage mechanisms as chains, cables, or connecting rods. It is also desirable that each door of a lock be operable entirely independently of each other.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a door for the purposes stated herein which may be moved between sliding and sealing positions by mechanism disposed on one side of the door and operable from either side thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide substantially silent mechanism for moving a sliding door into and out of sealing engagement with a door jamb.

A further object of the invention is to provide scalable sliding doors and operating mechanism therefor, suitable for forming closures to an air lock passage through a wall.

Still another object of the invention is to provide operating mechanism for doors forming an air lock which may be controlled independently for each door and from positions on both sides of each door by dual systems of control, so as to minimize the chance of a person being imprisoned Within the air lock.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following description of the preferred form of my invention which is illustrated in the drawings accompanying and forming part of the specification. -It is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the showing made by the said drawings and description, as I may adopt variations of the preferred forms within the scope of my invention as set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, the door embodying this invention is shown in duplication on opposite sides of an air lock, such a construction having the advantages above set forth with respect to excluding sound from a sound stage or studio While a person is entering or leaving. The dual construction is also useful for illustrative 3 purposes, one door being shown open and the other door closed, to afford ready comparison of the positions of the operating mechanism in the two positions of a door. It will be understood, however, that the door herein illustrated and described may be used singly in conditions not requiring an air lock, and .while the features of the invention render thedoor particularly adapted for air lock use, the invention may be embodied in either a single or duplicated arrangement of a door.

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a sound'Tst'age wall provided with two doors embodying this invention, showing one door. inopen position in full line, and the other door in closed position in broken line as it would appear on the opposite side of the wail.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view onan enlarged scale, the plane of section being indicated by the line 2-2 of Figure l, and illustrates the mechanism by which the doors are moved slidably parallel to the wall, and the mechanism for lifting and lowering the doors through parallel vertical planes.

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view showing the air lock formed by the two doors, one of which is shown closed and sealed, and the other is shown swung outwardly from the door jamb as'if to be opened.

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on the plane of section 4-4 of Figure 3, with the direction of view as indicated, and shows the clamping mechanism for clamping the doors to the door jambs, the mechanism applicable to the leading'edges of the doors in the closing direction of movement being illustrated.

Figure 5 is fragmentary elevational view of the lower portion of a door jamb, showing the stop for checking the descent and thereby actuating the clamping mechanism.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional View taken through one of the doors to illustrate the mounting of the control handles on the outer and inner sides of the door, the plane of section being indicated by the line 6-6 of Figure 1, with the direction of view as indicated.

Having reference to the details of the drawings, a wall H} is shown provided with a doorway for which a door l3 serves as a closure. The wall ii] may be of sufficient thickness to provide space between its surface for an air lock, closable on the side opposite the door i3 by another door l i. Overhead rails l5, preferably of the mono-rail type, are secured to the wall in above the doorway II and extend beyond the doorway on both sides of the wall IE! to support the doors l3 and I4; Carriers or trolleys l6, preferably two for each door, are mounted to roll on the rails I5, each comprising wheels l1 mounted on V-frames l8 which depend below the rails. The V-frames iii of each carrier l6 are connected by connecting links I9 which have lugs spaced apart to receive the ends of pins 2|. The pins 2| serve as fulorum points for the hereinafter described lever mechanism.

The doors [3 and Id being alike, only one will be described. Each door comprises a door panel 25, to the upper margin of which are secured 2 bearing brackets holding rotatably a shaft 25. The shaft 26 has laterally extending arms 2'! pivotally engaging the pins 2| of the carriers i6 respective to the particular door so that the shaft 26 may be swung aboutthe pins 2| as axes. The shaft 26 also has an arm 28, extending oppositely from the arms 21 and pivotally secured at its distal end to a piston 29 extruding from a cylinder 30. The cylinder 38 is pivotally mounted in brackets 3| secured to the panel 24. It will be seen that the shaft 26 with its arms 2? and 28 forms a lever fulcrumed at the distal ends of the arms 21 and with power applicable at the distal ends of the arms 28 by the piston 29 to swing the shaft 26 and the door suspended therefrom about the fulcrum pins 2|, and that the door is freely hung upon the shaft 26 by the bearing brackets 25 and will tend to maintain a vertical plane, as dictated by gravity.

The cylinder 30 and piston 29 are hydraulically operated by fluid from a reservoir 34 carried on the upper margin of the door. Preferably two pumping systems are provided for pumping fluid from the reservoir-it to the cylinder 35. A conduit 35 leading from the reservoir 38 is divided to lead through a conduit 35 to an electrically operated pump 3'! driven by a motor 38 and through a conduit 39-to a manually operated pump 3. The pump 31 and the motor 38 therefor may be secured to the upper margin of the door, adjacent to the reservoir 34 and the pump id is preferably disposed on the outer side of door at a height convenient for manual operation. Conduits M and 42, leading respectively from the electric pump 3? and the manual pump Gil, join in a cross-fitting i3 from which a conduit M extends to the cylinder 22E}, terminating in a flexible connection 45 to permit oscillation of the cylinder in its brackets 3|. The conduit i! is provided with a check valve 4% to prevent return fiow to the pump 31, and the conduit 22 is similarly provided with a check valve ll to prevent return flow to the pump Ml. The conduits 39- and 42 are connected by a conduit Q3 entering the conduit 42 between the check valve 4's and the cross-fitting 43 and provided with a hand valve 39 disposed conveniently to the manually operated pump M. A conduit 5E3 leads from the cross-fitting 33 to the reservoir 3d and is provided with a solenoid operated valve 55 which is normally closed.

It will be understood that electric power for the motor 38 and for the solenoid operated valve 5| may be conducted from terminals on the wall It! to the doors i3 and I4 by flexible cables of conventional type, the arrangement of which it is not deemed necessary to show. Similarly, the arrangement of the control wiringto'the motor 38 and to the solenoid operated valve 5| is optional and is not shown in detail.

Push button panels 54 and 55 are shown in Fi ure 1 disposed on the outer side of the door l3 and the inner side of the door l4, and it will be understood that both doors have such panels disposed at both of their sides, either on the doors themselves or conveniently situatedon the wall I0, so that the motor 38 and valve 5| respective to each door may be controlled by suitable switches from both sides of the particular door. Likewise omitted from the drawings as optional and as confusing to more essential points of illustration, are underdrive mechanisms connecting the doors to the rails l5, as fully described and illustrated in my United States Patent No. 2,317,689, issued April 2'7, 1943, such mechanism being desirable when heavy doors are to be roll-ed asideand bein controllable by switch mechanism at the panels 54 and 55.

The manually operated pump 40and the fluid control system above described is preferably dis- ,posed onthe outer side of its respective door to permit the door to be rolled aside past the wall Ill. The pump 4|] is operated by means of a handle 51 secured to ashaft 58 extending rotatably through the wall to the inner side thereof. A handle 59 on the inner end of the shaft 58 permits operation of the pump 48 from the inner side of the door. The shaft 58 may be packed tightly to prevent passage of sound, in a manner not possible with a longitudinally moving cable or chain. The doorway II has marginal pads 62 secured to jamb strips 63 around its lateral and overhead margins. The pads 62 may be of rubberIorlike material, adapted to form a resilient seal when v under compression. To guide the doors is and [4 in their lateral rolling movement, rollers 64 may be secured to the jamb strips 63 close fto the floor and rollers 65 may be secured to the floor outside of the doors and laterally beyond the margins of the doorway H. Floor stops GG may be provided to limit the opening movement 'of the doors, and wall stops 6'! are desirableto arrest the closing movement of the doors just prior} to contact of the hereinafter described clampin irons to avoid strain upon the latter. Wear strips, such as shown at 68 in Figure 3, may be provided for the various rollers to roll against.

' As best shown in Figures 3 and 4, the lateral jamb strips 63 adjacent the margin of the doorway H toward which the doors open support clamping irons II. The clamping irons H are angle irons having one flange secured to the jamb strips 63 and the other flange l2 spaced .fromthe .wall I!) and directed in the direction of opening movement of the door. Clamping ironslt are secured to the wall l adjacent the margin of door panel 24 with free flanges 18 and 19 directed in the direction of closing movement of the door so as to be able to interlock with the flanges 1| and 14. Tosupport the clamping irons l6 and V "I1, angle irons 88 and 81 are secured to the panel 24, the angle 8| being turned outwardly-to retract the clamping iron 11 to a position in which it will clear the pads 62 while still being engageable with the extended clamping iron "Hi.- Linkage bars 82, pivoted at both their ends, connect the clamping irons l6 and TI to the angle irons 80 and 8! so that the clamping irons and the door are relatively movable but are always parallel, and with the linkage bars form sides of parallelograms of varying obliquity. Angle irons 83' are secured at intervals to the angle irons 80 and 8| and extend across the parallelograms to the clamping irons 16 and H, but do not connect thereto. Bolts 84, threaded in brackets 85 on the clamping irons l6 and 11, are disposed to make contact with the angle iron 83 and to confine downward movement of the clamping irons relative to the door 24, and upward movement of the door relative to the clamping irons, to limits adjustable by adjusting the bolts. Downward movement of the clamping irons 16 and 11 relative to the doorway II is limited by stops 86 adjustably secured to each of the clamping irons H and 13. A bolt 87 extends through the clamping iron and through a slot 88 in the stop 86, to clamp the stop in an adjusted position. A set screw v89,.threaded in a lug 90 bears against the stop .86' to adjust the height of the stop as maybe desired.

In descending movement of a ,door when it is opposite the doorway i I, the clamping irons 16 and 11 will be resting by gravity upon the angle irons 83, until the feet of the clamping irons make contact with the stops 86. Continued des'cending movement of the door causes the door to swing inwardly and downwardly towards the doorway H, butalways parallel to the plane of the wall I0 as compelled by the arcuate movement of the linkage bars 82, and by immobilization of the clamping irons 16 and 11 by the stops 86 and the interlocking clamping irons H and 13. The inner faces of the doors I3 and [4 are provided with sealing pads 92 on their lateral and upper margins which register with and compress against the sealing pads 62, and the lower margin of each door has a sealing pad 93 which seals the door against the floor as the door descends.

, A person desiring to pass through a door embodying this invention will normally utilize the ,electric controls, the manual controls comprising :door I 4, corresponding to the panel 54 on the door l3. Fluid from the reservoir 34 is then pumped through the conduits 35, 36, 44, and 45 to the cylinder 30 to extrude the piston 29 and to cause ,the lever mechanism formed by the shaft 26 and its arms 21 and 28 to raise the door as shown .at the right in Figure 2. As the door is lifted, the clamping irons I6 and 1'! do not lift at once, but remain upheld by the clamp stops 88, while the door panel 24 and the attached angle irons 88 and 8| swing outwardly and upwardly. At an adjustable point in this swinging movement,

the stop bars 88 come into contact with the bolts 84, and continued movement will raise the clamping irons l6 and 1'! from the clamp stops 86. The swinging movement of the door panel 24 releases the bottom pad 93 from the fioor and the marginal pad 92 from the pads 62 with practically no sliding movement of one pad upon another. It will be noted that the clamping irons l6 and 11 still overlap the jamb clamping irons H and 13 as shown in the lower half of Figure 3.

However, the door may now be rolled along the track 15, either manually or by means of the above-mentioned underdrive mechanism. When the person has passed to the other side of the door, the door is returned by the same means to its closed but raised position in which the clamping irons I6 and 11 again interlock with the clamping irons H and 13. A control on the panel 55 in circuit with the solenoid operated valve 5! is then operated to open the valve and to release the fluid in the cylinder 38 to the reservoir 34, permitting the door to swing downwardly and inwardly against the door jamb.

At the start of this downward movement, the clamping irons l6 and 11 move with the door until they reach the clamp stops 86. Their movement is then arrested and further downward movement of the door causes the door to be pulled inwardly toward the door jamb by the linkage a'st 'de rs 'tdwards" the door jamb because the clamping released, to permit the valve to close.

If electric power is not available, the manually operated pump may be used'to raise and to lower the door. The hand valve 49, like the solenoid'va'lve isnormally closedv Operation of the pumpinby the handles ar at draws fluid through the conduits 35'and 39 to the pump and thencethrough the conduits 42, 44, and 45 to the cylinder 30 to raisethe door; When the door is to be'lowered again, the hand valve 491s opened and the fluid returns to the reservoir 34 through the conduits 45', '44, 42, 39, 39, and'35, bypassing tlie'pump 49 and the check valve d1.

Operation of two doors successively as an air lock is performed as above described, first on one door and then on the other The second door remains sealed while aperson unseals the first door, opens and closes it to liter the lock, and then reseals'it. Consequently, external sounds may be excluded from the sound stage provided with such a look while a person enters or departs'through the lock. The manually operated controls on the inside of the loci; are safeguards against imprisonment of a person within the lock in the event of sudden power failure.

I claim:

7 1. A closure device for a building doorway comprising adoor, overhead support means for the-door including a carrier movable laterally above the doorway, an arm pivotally connecting the carrier and the door, means for movingthe arm and door upwardly and outwardly away from the doorway, a first door clamp fixed to the building, a second door clamp pivoted at one end to the door' for lateralmovement therewith and having a member on its free end for engagement with the first door clamp asthe door is moved laterally across the doorway into closed position, first stop means carried by the door for limiting' downward movement of the second door clamp to a horizontal position, and second stop means on the first door clamp for limiting downward movement of the free end of the second door clamp after said clamps engage, whereby downward movement of the door, after engagement of the clamps swings the door inwardly against the doorway.

2. A closure device for a building doorway comprising a door, overhead support means for the-door including-amew-11y sliding" arner, lever means pivotallyconnectingthe" door" and carrier, IneanSffor actuating'tl'ie' lever in a direction'" lifting the door arcuately upwardly and away-from said doorway; a fixed'cla'mpingm'embe'r marginal to the'doorwa'y including an'upright, laterally extending flange'spaced outwardly 'from the doorway, a" second upright clamping member carried by the-door including alaterally extending flange disposed for" interlocking engagement with the flange of the first clamping member as the door is moved laterally'into'closed position, parallel-arms each pivoted atone-end to the" second clamping member andpivot'ally fixed at the opposite end with respect to the door for lateralriiovenient therewith, means for holding'thesecond clamping" member in extended position-away'fiom thedoorwhen thedoor is open, and means for liinitingidown'ward movement of said second member when engaged bythefirst member.

3; A door clamping device for building doors of the type suspended frorh'a laterally movable overheadcarrier for upward andoutward movement away from'thebufiding upon opening and downward and inward movement towards the building-upon-closing comprising-a movable rigid clamping member having one portion' pivotally secured-"to the door for movement about a" generally horizontal axis and' asecond portion arcua'tely'movable withthefirst portion in-a generally vertical plane transverse to-the door, the second clamping" member fixed with respect to the building and disposed in the path of said second portion of the movable 1 clamping member for interlocking engagement therewithas the door is moved laterally into closed position,-and stop means fixed with respect to the second clamping member ror 1imiung'downward movement of the second por tion of the rigid-clamping m'ei'riberafter engagement or saidmembers, whereby as thedo'or' is lo'wered the step meansis engaged by said second portion and the movable clamp member" pivots to force the doorinwardly againstthe building-I EARL; BURTON SPENCER.

REFERENCES CITED The; following references are of record in the file'of this patent:

UNITED STATES" PATENTS Number Name" Date 1,235,227 Mohun July 31, 1917 1,339,790 salladay May 11, 1920 1,616,841 Beebe Feb; 8, 1927 2,199,1 0 Leonard Apr. 30, 1940 2,311,864 Parsons Feb. 23, 1943 2,313,095 Schneider Mar. 9, 1943 2,406,942 Buttner Sept. 3, 1946 

